Member Sign In

You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating indiv idual securities.

If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.

Verizon Stays Evenly Poised

On Jul 26, we maintained our Neutral recommendation on Verizon Communications (VZ - Free Report) . The company is on track to tap opportunities within the telecom sector by launching new services and devices coupled with strong subscriber additions. However, the company’s future operating performance might be impacted by certain headwinds. The leading wireless carrier in the North America holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Why Maintained?

We believe that Verizon remains focused on growing its strategic areas with investments in key sectors for future growth. The company has a strong foothold in the wireless business and continues to capture additional market share via robust deployment of the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network.

The company’s new data plan — Share Everything —accounts for almost 36% of its post-paid account base and is expected to generate high revenues over the long term.

On the wireline front, Verizon is committed to improve long-term profitability through product streamlining and process simplification initiatives as well as cost management actions. The New York-based company is targeting market expansion by strengthening its international foothold. We believe that the company’s foray into overseas arenas will provide a significant opportunity to grow beyond the saturated national wireless market.

Along with these, collaborations with other top companies, consistent strong sales of smartphones, well-performing FiOS business segment and healthy financial position will help the company to generate high revenue and earnings in the coming days.

Nevertheless, we stay on the sidelines taking into account the various risk factors. These include persistent erosion in access lines, uncertain returns from investments, iPhone subsidies and intense competition from cable companies and other alternative service providers.

For the third and fourth quarters of 2013, the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is 75 cents and 65 cents per share. This reflects respective year-over-year growth of 17.3% and 69.8%.

Resources

Client Support

Follow Us

Zacks Research is Reported On:

Yahoo

MSN

Marketwatch

Nasdaq

Forbes

Investors.com

Morningstar

Zacks Investment Research is an A+ Rated BBB Accredited Business.

Copyright 2016 Zacks Investment Research

At the center of everything we do is a strong commitment to independent research and sharing its profitable discoveries with investors. This dedication to giving investors a trading advantage led to the creation of our proven Zacks Rank stock-rating system. Since 1988 it has nearly tripled the S&P 500 with an average gain of +26% per year. These returns cover a period from 1988-2015 and were examined and attested by Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, an independent accounting firm.

Visit performance for information about the performance numbers displayed above.